The Girl Next Door
by Flittery H
Summary: this is a Ron fic everyone! just to warn you. if you don't like Ron don't read this! it's R/OC and H/G ^_^ and it's FINSIHED. i think. anyway, READ & REVIEW!!
1. The Girl Next Door

The Girl Next Door

By Flittery H.

"Hey, I think someone's moving into the house next door…" said Ginny, squinting at the moving van in the distance. Ron and Harry craned their necks to try and see their new neighbors. They were all sitting out on the Weasley's front lawn on the first day of the summer holidays after Ron and Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. Just then, a black car pulled up behind the truck and they all watch as a tall man in wizarding robes stepped out of the driver's side and a young girl stepped out of the passenger side. Ron gulped. The girl was not conventionally beautiful, but there was a pert, cute look to her bouncy brown hair and her figure was certainly nothing to be scoffed at. Ron watched as she smiled sweetly at the movers who were bringing boxes into the house. He froze. That smile…

The man in wizarding robes smiled as he saw the three sitting on the next door lawn. He tapped his daughter's shoulder. "Maybe you should say hello," he suggested, pointing. 

Ron's trance broke when he realized the girl was looking straight at him. He swallowed hard.

She glanced back at her father, shrugging. "They look friendly," he cajoled. "You might as well try to make a few friends…" She glanced at them again, then back at her father. "C'mon, don't tell me you're shy…" He patted her back and gave her an encouraging smile. She sighed and smiled just a little, starting to walk towards them.

"Hey Ron, wake up! She's coming over here!" said Harry. Ginny giggled. "Shut up!" said Ron, blushing. 

The girl smiled at them as she got closer. Ginny smiled back. Harry waved. Ron tried to keep breathing. "Hi," she said, "I'm Liza Fairly."

"I'm Ginny Weasley, and this is Harry Potter and my brother Ron. Are you moving in next door?"

Liza nodded. "You all live here?"

Ginny started to nod, then looked at Harry uncertainly. "Well, Ron and I live here, and Harry… Well I guess you do sortof live here, too, don't you?" Harry nodded, shrugging.

Liza seemed a little puzzled, but didn't push the subject. "Um, that man, your father I guess," began Harry, (Liza nodded), "well, he was wearing robes…"

Liza's eyes narrowed a little, wondering how to answer this… "Well, he um. Well, we're… um. Do you know anything about magic?" she asked finally. Harry grinned. "You're not a muggle, either, then?" She shook her head, smiling, "nope."

"Are you American?" Ginny asked, "you don't sound British."

"Yeah, I'm American," said Liza, with a bit of pride, "but my mom was British. She went to Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, so I'm starting there in September." Her smile had faded slightly, but she still seemed relatively cheerful.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ginny, "we all go to Hogwarts too!"

"Cool! What year are you in?"

"I'm going into fifth year, and they're going into sixth," said Ginny. Liza nodded, "I'll be in sixth too." She looked toward Ron curiously, as he had been silent the whole time. Ginny giggled and rolled her eyes. "You don't know how weird it is for him to be this shy. He never shuts up normally." She looked towards Ron mischievously. He gaped at her, going red again. Liza held in a laugh, and smiled at Ron. He smiled shyly back.

"Well, I should go start unpacking. I'll see you guys later."

"Yeah! Why don't you and your dad come for dinner tonight? I'm sure mum wouldn't mind," said Ginny with a warm smile, "and you wont want to cook on your first night here…"

Liza smiled back. "That would be really nice. Thanks."

Ginny nodded. "Around six, then?"

Liza nodded as well, "See you then!"

Harry and Ron waved as she turned and walked back down the block to her new house.

"Well, Ron, you seem quite taken with her," said Ginny matter-of-factly when the girl had left. "Shut up Ginny."

Ginny giggled. Harry slung his arm around her, and looked towards Ron, grinning. "You're worse than I was with Ginny!" he said. Oh well, that was certainly the last thing Ron wanted to hear. He scowled at them. "Ginny you'd better go tell mum you invited them to dinner," he said. She only grinned at him and glided off towards the house.

"Dad!" Liza called as she entered the new house. She found him in the front room still directing movers with boxes and furniture. "Dad, the neighbors invited us for dinner tonight," she said breathlessly. "That's great honey, what time?"

"Six."

"K." He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "See, I told you it was a good idea to go say hi." She smiled and rolled her eyes, parents. "Are they nice?"

"Yeah, really nice. The two red heads are brother and sister, and I think the other one lives with them."

He nodded, sorting through some boxes. "The red headed boy seemed pretty engrossed in something…"

"What are you talking about?" she asked, knowing perfectly well what he was talking about. "Well, he just kept starring…" Micheal looked over at his daughter, grinning. "Shut up!" she said, blushing a bit. "Did they take my stuff up to my room yet?"

He laughed. "Yeah, you can go start unpacking if you want."

She huffed up the stairs.

At six o'clock that evening Micheal and Liza Fairly made their way over to the Weasley's house. 

To be continued! Review if you want more! Review anyway! Tell me what you think! I know how much everyone loves Mary Sue, but Liza a cool character anyway… so review!


	2. Dinner With the Weasleys

At six o'clock that evening Micheal and Liza Fairly made their way over to the Weasley's house.

"Oh! You must be the Fairlys!" said Mrs. Weasley when she answered the door.

Micheal nodded, smiling. "That's us. And you must be Mrs. Weasley?"

"Oh, call me Molly," she said.

"Then I'm Micheal," he said. "And this is my daughter, Liza."

"It's a pleasure to meet you both." She smiled warmly at them. "Come in!"

They entered the a bright and lively living room. Arthur Weasley stood up as they came in. He smiled and shook Micheal's hand as they were introduced, then grinned down at Liza, shaking her hand as well.

"The kids are outside dear," said Mrs. Weasly, "why don't you go join them?"

Liza smiled and followed Mrs. Weasley's directions out the back door. The site that met her eyes was interesting indeed. A pair of twins, with red hair like Ron's and Ginny's, were magicing two tables in the air, banging them against each other. Liza blinked, starring.

"Oi! Liz!" called Ron, jogging over to her from across the yard. She smiled. "Hey, Ron, right?"

"Yeah." He grinned.

She glanced up at the tables hitting each other in mid-air. "Um…?"

Ron followed her glance. "Oh that! It's a family tradition I guess…"

Liza nodded. She was beginning to like the Weasley family very much.

Dinner went very smoothly and everyone got along very well. Micheal and Liza were introduced to Fred and George; Harry's situation with the Dursleys was explained, as well as the fact that he was now living with the Weasleys. After dinner the twins went out to see their girlfriends ("George! Tell Hermione we said hi!" called Harry as they left), Harry and Ginny went for a walk, and Ron and Liza went to sit on two swings hung down from the bow of a large oak tree in the yard.

Harry watched the red strands of hair whist around Ginny's rosy cheeks. He felt her small hand next to his, each of her fingers enclosed between two of his. He heard her sigh.

"It's so wonderful to have you here again," she said.

"It does feel rather right, doesn't it?"

She nodded. "Very right." The smiled at each other and walked on in silence.

Liza and Ron had not moved from their seats on the swings. Though it had gotten rather dark out and the parents had retired into the warmth of the house almost an hour ago, Liza and Ron stayed swaying lazily on the two swings.

"But really! The keeper holds up the whole team!" Liza was saying. "If the Keeper's bad, the game is lost!"

"But if the beaters are really good, they'll keep the other team from ever getting near enough the goals to shoot!"

"No beater's that good," said Liza, "and if they were, there would be no point to the game!"

Ron shrugged. "I guess that's why all of the positions are important, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled, nodding. "Hey, do you guys have a Youth Quittich League around here?"

"A what?"

"A Youth Quittich League. You know, so young witches and wizards can play Quittich."

"Well, no, but we have house teams at school."

"Oh right! I keep forgetting it's an all-wizard school. We don't have those at home."

"Really?" He was puzzled and intrigued at the same time. "Where do you go to school then?"

"I go, well, went, to normal school. You know, muggle school."

Ron looked aghast.

"You see, there aren't really enough witches and wizards around to have our own schools. We do have community magic classes after school, but it's not the same."

"Wow. I can't imagine not going to Hogwarts."

"Yeah well. I guess the other thing is that because there are so few of us, we have to get by with the muggles. You know? Like work with them and everything, so we need their education."

"Wow. It sounds really different in America."

"It is. There are a lot of witches and wizards that don't want to acknowledge their heritage. They don't teach their kids how to focus their magic or anything. Then they blow up stuff by accident. And the ministry is so weak they can't do anything about it."

Ron nodded gravely.

Liza shrugged the topic away. "So anyway, about these house Quittich teams…?"

"Oh yeah! Harry's been on the Gryffindor team since first year. He's an amazing seeker. And now the rest of the team graduated so he's captain. He's gonna help me train up a bit over the summer so I can be keeper next year." He grinned with pride. "You'll come watch our games, wont you?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Not if I'm on the team too…"

Ron seemed puzzled. "I was a beater on my team at home for eight years!" she explained.

He blinked. "You were a what?"

"A beater. What, you think girls can't hit bludgers?"

"No, I just, I've never heard of a female beater before." He looked at her with a whole new reverence. "Wow," he said. "Where's your flaw? Nobody's completely perfect!"

She laughed a little. "You're sweet," she said.

"Liza?" came a voice from the house. They looked up to see Micheal Fairly outline in the brightened doorway of the house. "It's getting late, I'm going home, ok?"

Liza nodded. "I'm coming!" she called. She turned back to Ron. "I have to finish unpacking and stuff, but I'll see you soon, ok? You guys should come over tomorrow or something." She hopped off her swing. "Bye!"

"Bye!"

how's that for an update? Review!!!!! I need reviews!!! I threw in some H/G there, tell me if you want more of them too!


	3. Sweet Pea

Over the next few weeks, Liza spent most of her days with Harry, Ron and Ginny. They played Quittich in the Weasley's field (Ginny, it turned out, was a great chaser) or were introduced to the wonders of computers, movies, television and iced coffee in the Fairley's living room. As might well be expected, Harry and Ginny liked a bit of time to themselves, leaving Liza and Ron to get to know each other especially well.

One afternoon, Harry and Ginny had gone off to the local movie theatre under Liza's direction, leaving Liza and Ron alone. They trooped up to his room in the interest of looking at one of his Chuddly Cannons books, and when they had found it, sat themselves down on his bed and flipped through it leisurely.

They marveled over the pictures of the team in bright orange robes zooming around the pages and argued over who was the best player for most of an hour. Then they leaned back against the wall, just sitting.

Liza looked over at Ron. "Ron, have you ever had a real message?" she asked, a grin beginning to glint in her eyes. He looked at her, a bit puzzled. "I don't know," he said, "my Mum used to rub my back when I had a cold."

She laughed, starting to sit up. "I don't mean from your mother," she said, "c'mon, lie down." He threw her another puzzled glance, but did as he was told. She leaned over him, prodding gently at the back of his neck where wisps of red hair met pale freckled skin. "Mmm," she murmured softly near his ear. Her hands drew themselves down his back and under his shirt. "This has got to go," she said, pulling it up towards his head. He got it off the rest of the way and she moved over him, sitting on top of his bottom. She giggled softly and ran her hands over the soft flesh of his back. Her fingers dug gently and skillfully into the his muscles, hitting each detail specifically, leaving no pain un-comforted. He breathed deeply and she heard him sigh, saw the orange fringe of hair rise and fall over his freckled nose. She smiled.

When Ron's back had been fully relaxed and every morsel of skin caressed, she moved herself off of him, sitting on the edge of the bed. He smiled sheepishly up at her and began to roll over so he could face her. He stopped suddenly, as if an unseen hand had grabbed his shoulder and prevented any movement. Then he blushed bright crimson and let himself fall back to his stomach.

"Thanks a lot Liz," he said, "that was amazing."

She grinned. "It was my pleasure sweet pea," she answered, leaning over and kissing his cheek swiftly. "Sweet pea?" he asked, looking up at her face, now so close to his. She shrugged. "I thought it fit."

Their faces were so close together, Liza could feel Ron's breath on her cheek and neck. She watched his lips for a moment, as she ran her tounge over her own, then pressed them quickly to Ron's. He kissed back vigorously, and turned over onto his back so they were at a better angle. Liza leaned over him, still kissing, when she felt something bulge near her waist. She grinned, and started to laugh, breaking the kiss. "Oh that's why you didn't want to turn over before!" she exclaimed, still laughing. Ron blushed, pulling the blankets up over his waist. "Sorry," he muttered, not meeting her eyes.

She laughed. "Don't be sorry! It's a bit of compliment to my messaging skills, isn't it?" Her midnight eyes glittered. He grinned sheepishly. "I guess so…"

She lay down next to him and he put his arm around her. "It's all good, Ron, don't worry." She grinned mischievously at him, and for a moment he didn't know why, then he felt his pants being un-buttoned and unzipped. His eyes widened and he looked at her. She giggled and kissed his neck, his jaw, his cheek, and his lips again, all while her fingers danced below his waist.

Somehow he made his arms limply encircle her waist, and his lips kiss hers with at least some gusto. She smirked and giggled against his lips each time he moaned or his hips jutted uncontrollably. Finally he let out a last groan and his mouth wouldn't close (so Liza nibbled his bottom lip gently) and Liza's hand withdrew from Ron's pants only catching minimal amounts of stickiness (though his boxers were not so lucky). Ron lay, breathing heavily, for a moment. Liza's arms rested on his chest, and her chin rested on top of her crossed hands. She was smiling curiously at him. He almost laughed when he saw her dark blue eyes starring, innocently wide, up at him. He bent his head and kissed her sweetly. "Is there anything you can't do?" he asked, his voice a bit hoarse. 

She shrugged. "I'm not so good at math," she said impishly.

He laughed a bit, and kissed her again.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Ron?" came Harry's voice. "Are you guys in here?" called Ginny, opening the door without warning. She froze in the doorway, blinking in surprise. Harry grinned. 

"Whoops," said Ginny with a giggle, "didn't mean to interrupt…"

"Yeah," said Harry, leading Ginny out of the room. "There's no one left in your room, is there, Ginny?" they could hear him saying as he and Ginny walked down the stairs.

REVIEW!!!! Please? Then you'll have good review-karma ^_^


	4. An Afternoon with Liza

"Ron, Mum says we have to go to Gram's house tomorrow," said Ginny, walking out into the sunshine where Harry, Ron and Liza were sitting on the warm grass. She took a seat next to Harry, who shoved her playfully with his shoulder.

Ron groaned. "You can't be serious!"

"I am."

"We can't get out of it?"

"Ron, this is our mother we're talking about."

Ron slumped. "This sucks."

Liza glanced at Harry, but he seemed equally perplexed. "…What's going on?" Liza piped up.

"We have to visit our grandmother tomorrow," explained Ginny.

"Yeah, and she's crazier than Professor Trelawney!"

Harry seemed agahst. "You can't be serious."

"Who?" asked Liza.

"Our Divination teacher," said Ginny.

"I thought divination was just for loons to try and get money out of muggles? There're about a billion witches in America who do. They teach you that stuff in school?"

"Yeah," said Harry glumly.

Liza shook her head. "And they say Hogwarts is such a quality institution…"

"Hey! It is!" Ron exclaimed indignantly. Liza laughed.

"Well anyway, the divination teacher at Hogwarts is Professor Trelawney and she's absolutely mad. And unfortunately, our dear Grams makes her look perfectly sane indeed," Ginny explained.

"Wow," breathed Harry, "I didn't think that was possible…"

"Yeah. It is. And we have to go visit her tomorrow."

"Well, we could come with you…" Liza suggested. "Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, then."

"Oh. No. Believe me, you do not want to subject yourself to that," said Ron. "Spare yourselves, please!"

"C'mon Ron, it can't be that bad…"

"Yes, it can."

Liza gave him a skeptical look. 

"C'mon, Liz, don't worry. Me and Ginny'll just go and get it over with and we'll be fine. You and Harry can hang out tomorrow."

Liza shrugged and looked towards Harry. He shrugged too. Then she smiled a bit. "I guess so. We can look at those pictures you were talking about," she said.

Harry nodded. "Sure."

"Why don't you bring them over around noon?"

Harry knocked on the Fairley's door at noon the next day, slightly apprehensive at being alone with Liza all day. She came to the door stifling a yawn, dressed in her blue flannel pajama pants with yellow stars ("from Delia's" she had said, whatever that meant). She smiled groggily at him and said, "Come in, we're about to miss Kim Possible." Harry puzzled over this as he followed her into the living room, still littered with boxes. "Sorry I'm not awake yet," she said, yawning again, "I ended up talking to Chris until like 3 am." Chris was Liza's ex-boyfriend from home, Harry, Ron and Ginny had discovered early on. They seemed to talk quite a lot for a couple that was broken up, but Liza insisted that he had been her best friend as well as her boyfriend and that was all that was left of their relationship. Ron still shifted uncomfortably and glared into space whenever Chris was mentioned.

However, Ron was not there this morning to begrudge the absent boy, just Harry and Liza. They sat on the couch, Liza pulling one knee up to her chest comfortably. Harry watched her pick up her coffee mug and sip it serenely, though her eyes were fixed on the tv.

"_Call me beep me, if you want to reach me, if you want to page me it's ok_," sang the theme song as the cartoon of Kim Possible zoomed around the screen.

"If you want me to get you any food or anything, you'll have to wait till the commercial," Liza said, "but you can get stuff yourself if you want."

Harry shook his head, "No thanks, Mrs. Weasley made pancakes."

When Kim Possible was over (she and Ron Stoppable had foiled the plans of yet another bad guy trying to take over the world), Harry pulled out his photo album, as promised, and they poured over the pictures.

The man and woman seemed oddly familiar to Liza, but it wasn't until the wedding picture that she realized why. She began to laugh softly.

Harry looked over at her, bewildered.

She pointed to a curly, blonde haired girl standing next to Harry's mother. The girl was giggling and grinning at the camera, her wide blue eyes twinkling. Those eyes… Harry recognized those eyes… He looked towards Liza hesitantly. "Blithe Harold Fairley," she said plainly, "my mom."

Harry was shocked. "And there," she pointed to the space behind her mother in the picture where a man stood, mostly hidden by the two girls, "my dad. Your dad's cousin."

Harry could do nothing but stare at her.

"I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner!" she continued. "My dad's told me all about it… Our mom's were best friend, Blithe and Lily. Then my dad went to stay with his cousin James in England for a while so he could study at Hogwarts. And he met my mom, and after graduation they got married. And then Lily had you. And my mom had me. And then my mom died and dad moved us back to Vermont as quick as he could. That's all I know."

"Well, after your mom died, both my parents died. Killed by Voldemort. Then he lost his powers."

Liza nodded. "We don't get a lot of news from England, but my dad told me that Voldemort had been stopped, but we didn't know how. He killed my mom too."

They were silent for a moment. Then Liza looked up, a smile starting in her eyes. "Harry! We're cousins!"

He blinked at her for a moment, then grinned. "Yeah. We are."

"That's so cool! I have a cousin! Wow."

"Yeah. That is cool." He grinned at her and they looked through the rest of his pictures.

"C'mon, I've got loads of pictures upstairs! My mom liked taking pictures of all her friends, so there's tons of your parents!" They trooped up the stairs to Liza's bedroom and she pulled two large photo albums off of a shelf along with a large cardboard box. She placed them all on her four-poster bed. "There. More pictures than anyone could ever want." She grinned.

They search through the albums and the box, stopping to laugh and point out a particularly nice image to the other. Harry explained about Sirius and Remus and Pettigrew, and that Sirius and Remus were now co-teachers of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.

"Wow. I was always wondering what happened to them. Dad knew their names and that they were mom's friends, but that's about it. He heard about your parents dying, but we thought you had died too."

Harry nodded. "And to think, all this time I was living with the Dursleys… and I had other family…"

"I'm so sorry, Harry. I wish we had known!"

"It's not your fault. I'm just glad we found out now! I mean, the Weasleys are wonderful, but it's nice to know I have real family too."

Liza nodded, "I know what you mean."

There were so many pictures that they were still looking at them far into the evening, approaching when Ron and Ginny would return. But when Ron and Ginny came up to Liza's room, they found a different sight than they had expected. Harry was propped against a pillow at the foot of the bed, a pile of pictures next to him, one photograph still clutched in his hand, his eyes closed and his breathing soft. Liza was similarly positioned at the head of the bed, her lips curling as she breathed.

The two siblings smiled at the sight. Ginny was first to move, gently placing herself on the bed next to Harry, pulling his arms around her waist. Harry murmured incoherently and settled into her, snuggling into her hair. Ron followed her example and scooted on to the bed next to Liza, wrapping his arm around her shoulder, and she instinctively moved her head to rest on his chest. He kissed the top of her head and gingerly plucked the photograph from her hand.

He examined it carefully, the blond woman, with Liza's midnight eyes… next to the red-haired Lily Potter… and there was Sirius… and Lupin… and Harry's father too. Could it be…? Ron stared down at her in wonder, then kissed the top of her head again and let himself fall asleep.

HA yes. Another update! Go me! Please review! Tell me what you think! This chapter was a bit strange, and I stole a lot from The Secret Garden, because I love it so much, but anyway. Tell me what you think!!!!! REVIEW!!!!! The next chapter should be coming soon…


	5. Birthday

"You know, I really think it's great that you and Harry are cousins," said Ginny the next evening, opening another package of m&m's. "These things are really good, by the way; muggles sure know how to make chocolate!"

Liza smiled, "yeah."

"You know, Harry's birthday is coming up," said Ginny, munching thoughtfully. "His sixteenth…it would be great to do something nice for him. We've never been with him on his birthday before."

Liza seemed puzzled.

"He was always with the Dursleys."

Liza nodded, munching on her own pack of m&ms's. The two girls were sitting on Liza's bed, already in their pajamas--"girls' night," Liza had said. Harry and Ron had looked at each other and shrugged. Funny how they were spending "girls' night" talking about boys…

"We should definitely do something for Harry's birthday," said Liza. "We could have a party here? My dad wouldn't mind…"

"A party? What kind of party?" Their last movie night had featured "Can't Hardly Wait" with Jennifer Love Hewitt. Liza could tell that this was still fresh in Ginny's mind.

"Just a party, Gin. We could invite all his friends from school, you know, put on some music, order pizza, have a birthday cake… a lot of fun."

Ginny nodded. "That would be amazing! Harry would love it!"

"Tomorrow we'll ask Harry and Ron what they think. Harry can provide the guest list and we'll do the rest."

***

The door opened slowly.

"Oh Harry! Happy birthday sweetie!" said Ginny, leaning up to kiss him. He grinned into the kiss.

"Thanks, Gin." She stepped back to let him in and he got his first good look at her. Her red hair was up and tangled around itself at the nape of her neck; she wore a white halter-top with blue embroidery, which he saw, as she turned to call "Harry's here!" down the hall to the living room, was held on in the back with only two thin ties. He took in the rest of her appearance: a small denim skirt, and her long smooth legs ending in flat sandals with the tiniest white straps. Her toe nails were painted pale blue.

He reached out, clasping her hand. "Gin…"

She turned.

"You look amazing."

She blushed, grinning, crossed her ankles innocently, and looked up at him. "C'mon, you can say it, I look pretty hot, right?"

Harry laughed. "Yeah. You look really hot," he said, sliding his arms around her waist. Just as they began to kiss, Liza, followed closely by Seamus Finnegan, burst out of the living room laughing.

"Oh! Look how cute they are!" simpered Liza.

"Yeah, just adorable," said Seamus, grinning.

"Seamus!" said Harry, breaking his embrace with Ginny to greet his friend.

"Happy birthday Harry!" he said.

Harry glanced at Liza, "So I see you've met Liza…" Her cheeks were flushed and she grinned. "C'mon Harry!" she said, grabbing his hand, "this is your party!" And she dragged him towards the living room.

He glanced back at Ginny, who smiled.

"So, how's my Gin-and-tonic?" said Seamus, grinning at her.

Ginny smiled up at him. "I'm pretty good. And yourself?"

"Doing pretty well I'd say."

"Um, Seamus…"

He raised his eyebrows.

"There's something you should know about Liza. She's kind of with Ron…"

Seamus looked relieved. "Oh that! She already told me, first thing she said, really. And she only mentions him every three or four sentences."

Ginny sighed.

"Don't worry Gins," he said, ruffling her hair, "I'm not trying to get your brother's girl." He grinned at her, "Now, your brother's best friend's girl might be another story…"

Ginny rolled her eyes and they made their way to the living room together.

YES. Another chapter! Yay! REVIEW!!!!!!!


	6. Cause and Effect

Liza recognized the song in the first four beats. She smiled to herself as she approached Ron, just as Harry was leaving him to dance with Ginny. "Hey," she said.

He looked at her, almost scornfully. "Hey."

She grabbed his hand, "C'mon, let's dance!"

"Don't you want to dance with Seamus?"

"He's already dancing with Veronica."

"Who?"

"Ginny's friend. C'mon, let's dance!"

Ron rolled his eyes and begrudgingly let Liza lead him out into the middle of the room. She placed his hands on her waist and let her own rest behind his neck, bringing them close together.

"Now, I know you like that," she said, leaning up to kiss him.

He pulled his head away, looking out over the room. Liza looked up at him, hurt and puzzled.

"What's wrong with you?" she said.

He spoke quietly, still looking away. "Sorry, I don't like being a consolation prize."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, since you couldn't dance with Seamus…"

"No Ron, I wanted to dance this song with you--!"

He plowed ahead, not listening, "I guess you've only been with me these last few weeks cause there was no one else around."

"Ron! What are you talking about? You _have_ to know that's not true!"

"How would I know that?"

"Because I'm telling you! Do I really seem like the type to be with a guy just because he's there?"

He shrugged.

"Trust me Ron. If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't."

He looked down at her finally, wanting to believe her… He sighed.

"Then what were you doing with Seamus?"

"We were just dancing! Having fun, not a big deal! Even people who're in love need a little break from each other sometimes!"

"In love…?"

Liza shrugged, looking away uncomfortably.

A grin spread over Ron's face. He put his fingers to her chin, causing her to look at him and kissed her lips gently, serenely, with care and passion all at once.

She rest her head on his chest, sighing a bit and letting herself be completely engulfed in his embrace.

As the night progressed, people began filtering out and going home.

"I'll owl you, Liz," said Seamus as he was leaving.

"It's Liza," she said, feeling Ron's arm snake around her waist. "Only he calls me Liz," she tilted her head towards Ron, who grinned.

"Oh, sorry," said Seamus, who grinned as well. "Well, I'll owl you anyway, Liza." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. Ron let out a low growl. Liza giggled. "I think Ron's jelous," she said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" said Seamus, "I should have realized, here, Ron, you get one too." And he kissed Ron's cheek. Ron's eyes buldged and he glared at Seamus, who was laughing, as was Liza.

"See ou guys in September!" called Seamus, starting across the lawn, "Happy birthday Harry!"

When everyone had left, Ron slouched into the nearest arm chair. Harry, coming back from saying goodbye to the last guests, plopped onto the couch. Ginny sat next to him and he put his arm around her. Liza let herself drop across Ron's lap and giggled at his "oof."

"The night's not over yet!" she said, apparently not as tired as her friends. "Harry, you haven't opened your presents yet!"

"I'm so tired though! Can't we leave them till tomorrow?"

Liza shrugged. "Well, I guess if you want to be boring like that." Harry rolled his eyes. "Just make sure I'm there when you open them, I want to make sure you got good stuff." She hopped up "Well, I think I'll go to bed," she paused to look expectantly down at Ron. "You coming?"

He blinked up at her for a moment, then stood up also, clearing his throat a bit. "Well, yeah, uh, it's been fun, happy birthday Harry," he said quickly, following Liza up the stairs.

"Good night!" she called over her shoulder.

"Yeah, good night!" said Ron.

Harry laughed a bit and Ginny rolled her eyes. She snuggled into his chest, her brown eyes closing. Harry kissed the top of her head.

"Harry," she murmured against the softness of his shirt, "Liza said we could sleep in the guest room…"

Harry nodded, that seemed like a Liza thing to do. "Are you sure you want to…?" he asked quietly. A little smile spread across her lips. She nodded. He smiled softly and lifted her off the couch and carried her up the stairs.

***

Ron closed the door behind him as quietly as he could. He started walking down the hall, but the guest room door opened just as he was about to pass it. Ginny stepped out, her hair still mussed and Harry's shirt hanging open over her pajama top and, to Ron's immense horror, Harry's green checked boxers. Ron gaped; Ginny flushed.

"'Morning," she murmured.

He sputtered. "What?"

"What?" She started down the stairs.

"Why--?"

"Why what?"

"Boxers. Harry's boxers. Ginny. Harry's--Harry's boxers."

She blushed bright crimson. "Oh…that…"

"Yes. Yes, that. Why?"

"Good morning Micheal," said Ginny as they passed him, sipping his coffee and reading a paper at the kitchen table, still in his navy terry-cloth robe. He nodded. "Morning."

Ron nodded to him as well, "Morning."

Ginny took down two cups from the cupboard and poured coffee, milk and sugar into both.

"One of those for Harry?" said Ron, looking pale. Ginny nodded, not looking up from stirring the coffees.

Ron pulled another tow cups down and poured coffee into one, boiling water into the other. He plopped a tea-bag into the water.

Ginny picked up her two cups and started to walk past Ron.

"There's some pastries and stuff if you guys want," Michael said, gesturing to a platter on the table.

Ginny smiled a little. "Thanks," she said, taking a plate from a shelf and filling it with Danishes.

"You'll want a tray," said Michael, barely looking up from his paper, "there're some on the bottom shelf." Ginny smiled in thanks.

"How was the party?"

"Oh, it was really nice," said Ginny enthusiastically.

"Yeah, thanks for letting us have it here!" said Ron.

"I think Harry was really pleased," Ginny continued. Ron glanced at her.

"Yeah. Really pleased," he said. "I think he'll be even more pleased this morning--you know, when the full effect sinks in."

Ginny glared at him. Michael hid a smile behind his paper.

"Liza's still asleep?" asked Michael.

Ginny looked towards Ron, who blushed.

"Yeah," he said, "Well sort of. In any case I wouldn't try to get her out of bed yet."

Michael nodded. "Doesn't really matter. Just when she can think coherently you could tell her that I'd be willing to drive you guys to the movies later."

Ginny looked excited. "Thanks!" she said, "We'll make sure we tell her!"

Michael nodded and went back to his paper.

"Maybe we can see that one Liza was telling us about--about the boy and girl from different families that were feuding… with that blond boy from Titanic…"

Ron nodded vaguely as he followed her up the stairs.

"Ron. What?"

He didn't say anything.

"Are you alluding to the fact that you can't say anything to me because you did it too?"

"Ginny, I'm older than you…"

"By a year! And Liza only by a few months! And it's not like this was her first time."

Ron looked rather dejected. "Ginny…"

"Give it up Ron. You're not going to win."

They were standing in front of the guest room door, Ginny's hand on the door-knob.

"I know…it's just, well difficult, I guess."

"I know, Ron."

Just then Liza's bedroom door cracked open and Liza stuck her head out.

"Ooo! Danishes!" she exclaimed brightly, "Morning Gin!"

Ginny smiled at her. "You seem chipper this morning."

"You say that like it's such an odd thing. God, the way you talk you'd think I was a grouch or something in the morning."

"Well…"

"Yes dear, shh. Ron?" She pouted a little. He straightened up and gave Ginny a reproaching glance, then grinned at her and ruffled her hair before turning and going back to Liza's room. Ginny rolled her eyes and went back to the guest room.

YES. It is FINISHED!!!! Or at least I think so. It certainly needs some revising, but otherwise, do you think it's pretty complete? Or does it need more? I'm not sure yet…


End file.
